


Lines

by Cstrndpllx



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Getting Back Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:55:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25787689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cstrndpllx/pseuds/Cstrndpllx
Summary: The recurring pain, the redundancy of it all, the feel of everything slipping between his fingers, Jaehyun thinks he can't handle it anymore, can't keep meeting Doyoung in sporadic intervals, like old friends meeting occasionally instead of the lovers that they were.Why the stars were so selfish, piercing his heart every time they take Doyoung away from him, he couldn't understand, couldn't quite comprehend. Where they stand under the blurry shines of thousands of stars is a mystery he could never solve. What they are, what they were, is it too late to change the path written for them. Maybe this is it, the ending they're meant to have, tangent lines meeting once and never again.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung
Kudos: 23





	Lines

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is incomplete as I never got to finish it because life happened. Even so, thank you for reading 🥰

Start

Jaehyun hears before anything. Hears laughter and words. A voice he hasn't heard in years, but he knows, knows who it is, who it belongs to. 

He stills from where he's perched at the balcony, questions pouring on his mind. Is it him? He asks, the nameless stars in front of him shining. He could turn around, see for himself, and confirm his suspicions. But his heart is beating, faster with each passing muted sound of conversations around him. He doesn't think he could do it, turn around, look him in the eye, stare at him, pretend nothing was wrong, that nothing ever happened, that he didn't know who he was, what they were, who they used to be.

But then Jaehyun hears it again, hears him again. His voice is gentler now, not the brash laughter from seconds before. And he's talking, banter with two more voices he clouded in his ears to hear Him better, only him. So he turns around, his longing getting the better of him. And he sees, the man who was once his, standing in his full glory, singled out among hundreds of people. Jaehyun thinks, at that moment in time, that if losing himself means hearing Doyoung again, seeing him again, he wouldn't mind losing himself at all.

"Doyoung," he says, with more longing and sadness than he ever did before.

The man, the object of his sleepless thoughts and countless dreams, looks at him. "Jaehyun," the man utters. It sounds like a prayer more than a name for how it's spoken with unexpected gentleness. "It's you." Doyoung adds.

Out here, bathing under the yellow white light of the chandeliers hanging above them, wearing a garnet red velvet suit, standing among a crowd of nameless acquaintances, Doyoung glows. His face is passive, shocked, emotionless. Caught by surprise and trapped in Jaehyun's relentless, but ever so forlorn, gaze.

No words come from Jaehyun's mouth, his countenance struck by the suddenness of it all. Doyoung is back. And it's like nothing has changed yet nothing is the same anymore, not their face, not their looks, not who they are.

Jaehyun has imagined this moment a hundred times before in his mind. He'd shout, scream, bursting with unresolved anger from when Doyoung first left their apartment - first left him. He'd ask, blame, point fingers at Doyoung, for something, anything, an excuse, a reason, an explanation. It's what he deserves, he thinks. It's the least he deserves. 

Then he'd cry. Pour it out. Let it go, let all his resentment go. Until all that's left is his bare, naked, true, and vulnerable self. A figure he'd only let Doyoung see. 

Yet one look at Doyoung and Jaehyun doesn't think he could do it. He couldn't do it. He could never do it. Maybe, in another lifetime he does. But not now, not in this one. 

After what feels like minutes, hours, Doyoung clears his throat as he regains his composure. He turns to his companions, saying something Jaehyun can't hear. And they depart, leaving Doyoung alone with Jaehyun, only meters and the whole past apart.

Doyoung walks to where Jaehyun's standing, confident and sure like how Jaehyun remembers him. He stops once he's in front of Jaehyun. And he smiles, looking at their feet, all lips, no teeth.

"It's really you. I'd never thought I'd see you again. Not in a place like this, not ever." Doyoung says.

With the way Doyoung speaks each word with unfiltered hurt and regret, it almost sounds as if he never wanted to leave, never wanted both of them to hurt, to be like this, to end up like this. 

Jaehyun hates how he isn't even mad at Doyoung, how he couldn't even at all.

"Well, yeah. It's our company party after all." Jaehyun says. 

"I didn't think you'd work for a company."

It's true. Jaehyun never wanted to work for a company, sitting all day doing paperworks, working overtime, wasting his youth for something insignificant. For now, it works. But he wanted to write growing up, be a journalist, express himself, speak for those unheard.

"The benefits are great. They give me more than I need to live comfortably. It's more than i could ask." Jaehyun replies.

Doyoung looks at him, eyes intent and dangerously wretched, sorrowful, like he wants to say something but something's stopping him. His pride maybe.

Jaehyun shifts uncomfortably. He's never really seen Doyoung act so different, so unlike the Doyoung he knew. Then, he asks, "How about you?"

When the silence stretches more, "How has it been?" he adds. Jaehyun starts to fidget from where he's standing, hands in his pockets. 

Doyoung snaps away from his reverie, the wine-filled glass in his hand forgotten. "Huh?" He replies. 

"Your internship? Your residency?"

When Doyoung left two years ago, it was for an opportunity to continue his residency abroad offered by the Cleveland Clinic itself. It wasn't just uncommon, it was extremely rare for local physicians to get invited personally for residency. It's because they don't want any undeserving professionals to tarnish their glorified name.

Doyoung never told Jaehyun any of this. It was Jaehyun who searched and looked for where Doyoung was going. He wanted to find solace in knowing that at least Doyoung was in a good place. 

"It was nice. The people there are accommodating." He says, uncertain in how Jaehyun will receive his response. "Though it's finished now. I'm staying here. For good." Doyoung adds quickly like an afterthought, jumbling over his words in a haste. 

Before Jaehyun can reply, a burst of cheers surround them from where they're isolated near the five feet tall windows. It's the highlight of the party, the director speaking about his plans for the future. 

"Do you- do you want to go outside?" Doyoung's eyes are fleeting like he doesn't know where to look. His voice is unsure.

"Why? I mean, sure. Why not?"

"The garden in this place is beautiful. And you can see the sky from there." Doyoung says.

They walk side by side, rowing through amongst a faceless crowd, an old but comfortable air navigating them. Their fingers brush against each other, itching to be somewhere more warm, somewhere more familiar.

Soon, they reach the garden, a beauty hidden by the grand hall in front of it.

Above the ornate garden, the stars are drowning in a sea of midnight blue, shining like hidden gold. Green bushes stand proud along the lengths of the garden, winter flowers blooming among empty winter trees. The face of a bright yellow moon hangs above them. And out here, between the silence and isolation, it's only them. Noone will hear what they say. Noone to look at them.

**Author's Note:**

> If ever you reached this point, thank you so much. Comments would be rewlly appreciated 🥰💕🥺


End file.
